ID checks at game stores after recent media frenzy

Kingpin may be a big gangster, but it looks like he got his ears cuffed at retail this week. The gangland-based, first-person shooter has been the focus of (as well as the whipping boy for) the media in the wake of the Columbine shooting, and now it seems as if retailers are handling the game with white gloves at retail.

According to managers at Software Etc., a company message was sent requesting that ID be checked with sales of the title at all stores, though it was left up to the individual store managers to make the final decision. "I didn't want to end up on the evening news," said one Software Etc. manager about his decision to check ID.

Babbage's sent out a similar memo to its employees regarding Kingpin, with the addition that future games with controversial subject matter may require ID as well. Electronics Boutique, however, are standing by Xatrix, asserting that since the game has a content control option it's up to the purchaser to decide whether or not the material is appropriate (though EB did card for pre-orders of the title before the content option was officially announced). None of the companies have confirmed that the carding policy will be in practice post-Kingpin.

Courtesy of IGN.com